FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION

Grant/Cooperative Agreement Final Performance Report Instructions

1 | P a g e

Overview 

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in Title 2, Section 200.343 requires grant recipients to submit all financial, 

performance, and other closeout documentation as required by the terms and conditions of the award no later than 90 

calendar days after the end date of the period of performance. This document provides instructions for completing 

FRA’s Final Performance Report form.

Why is the Final Performance Report Important? 

The final performance report allows FRA to assess the project against the requirements outlined in the Notice of Grant 

Award (NGA) and provides grantees with the opportunity to showcase the successes and lessons learned from the 

project. As such, the final performance report is a critical document that can help to inform future programmatic

decisions under other FRA grants. Contents from the final performance report, including public benefits and photos, may 

be used in FRA materials to illustrate the value and impact of our programs.

General Requirements 

Grantees must submit reports that are complete, thorough, accurate, and certified by a representative who is 

authorized to verify and submit data on behalf of the organization. FRA encourages grantees to compose 

thoughtful responses that are not simply “copy and pasted” from the Statement of Work (SOW) and/or grant 

application materials. Section B should be no more than 10 pages in length, excluding photos. Please contact 

your FRA grant manager with any questions.

Form Section A. Award Information 

Data Element Instructions

1. Agreement

Number

Enter the agreement number as it appears in line 2 of the NGA.

2. Project Title Enter the project title as it appears in line 8 of the NGA.

3. Project Type Enter the project type (e.g. Planning, PE/NEPA, FD/Construction, and/or Research & Design).

4. Program Name Enter the program name under which the grant was funded.

5. Grantee Enter the recipient name as it appears in line 1 of the NGA.

6, 7, 8. Point of 

Contact (POC) Name 

and Title, Email, and 

Phone

Enter the name, title, email and phone number of the individual certifying this report. The 

individual should be authorized to report on behalf of the grantee.

9. Report 

Submission 

Date

Enter the date that the report is submitted to the FRA grant manager.

10. Grant Manager Enter the name of the grant manager assigned to this grant.
FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION

Grant/Cooperative Agreement Final Performance Report Instructions

2 | P a g e

Section B. Final Performance Report 

Data Element Instructions

11. Project 

Objectives

Provide a detailed description of the specific, existing transportation problem(s) or challenges

that the project sought to resolve. 

12. Project 

Activities

Provide a detailed description of the specific solutions that the project employed to solve the 

transportation problem(s) outlined in Question 11 above. Project activities should align with

the project tasks, sub-tasks and associated deliverables as outlined in the Statement of Work. 

13. Project Outputs Provide a detailed description of the project outputs, including any planned outputs that 

were not achieved. Project outputs are the tangible and/or measurable products achieved as 

a result of the project activities identified in Question 12 above, and may include (but are not 

limited to) the following:

 Physical infrastructure outputs, including miles of track laid and/or improved;

 Increased service frequency (e.g. number of trains per day);

 Increased ridership capacity;

 Increased maximum and/or average speeds; 

 Travel-time reductions;

 Increased on time performance or projections;

 Implementation of new passenger rail services or routes;

 Development and of Planning, Engineering, or Environmental documentation;

 Development of a Statewide Rail Plan; or

 Change of railroad class.

If applicable, please attach before and after project photos in a separate file.
FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION

Grant/Cooperative Agreement Final Performance Report Instructions

3 | P a g e

14. Project 

Outcomes & 

Other Public 

Benefits

Provide a detailed description of the public benefits anticipated as a result of the project, if 

applicable. These may include, but are not limited to, the following:

 Increased ridership (actual) as a result of improvements;

 Multi-modal benefits, such as favorable impacts on air or highway traffic 

congestion, capacity, or safety, and cost avoidance or deferral of planned 

investments in aviation and highway systems;

 Enhanced intermodal connectivity and integration, such as a focus on convenient 

connection to local transit and street networks and coordination with local land 

use and station area development;

 Safety benefits, such as reduced transportation-related fatalities and injuries and 

encouragement of the implementation of positive train control (PTC) technologies;

 Improved state of good repair of transportation infrastructure;

 Equitable financial participation from benefiting entities in the project's financing;

 Incorporation of private investment in the financing of capital projects or service 

operations;

 Enhanced stakeholder relationships;

 Improved environmental sustainability, such as reduced carbon or other harmful 

emissions, improved air quality, and improved public health;

 Increased economic competitiveness of local communities, such as job growth and 

new investment opportunities;

 Enhanced quality of life within impacted communities, such as increased 

transportation choices and/or access to transportation services; or

 Other outcomes that otherwise positively impacted the region. 

If any resulting project benefits were required by the NGA as specific performance 

measures, please use the space provided in 14 (a) to describe those.

 14 (a). 

Performance 

Measures (if 

applicable)

If specific performance measure data were required by the NGA, please provide a detailed 

description of the extent to which each measure was achieved. 

15. Lessons 

Learned

Provide a description of key takeaways from the project, including: challenges and mitigation 

strategies, best practices, and/or examples of training and technical assistance offered by 

FRA, including assistance to sub-grantees.

16. Maximizing 

Investments

Provide a description of any related projects that would further add to the public benefits of 

this project. Please include the project type, estimated project cost, a brief project 

description, and an explanation detailing how it would further add to the public benefits of 

this project. Please note that identification of potential projects on this report does not 

guarantee FRA funding.

17. Budget 

Narrative & 

Final Budget

Provide a summary of major expenditures, including any material variance against the 

original projected budget. These might include explanations for any cost over runs, budget 

adjustments, and/or unspent funds.

18. Grantee 

Feedback

Provide feedback to enable FRA to better support current and future grantees. 
FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION

Grant/Cooperative Agreement Final Performance Report Instructions

4 | P a g e

Report Submission 

Review all of the responses carefully. When responses are thorough and accurate, complete the Certification to 

certify accurate completion of this final performance report, verify the Report Submission Date, and submit to

your FRA grant manager via email.